Even though Sudan recently agreed (on paper) to accept a mixed UN/AU force into the Darfur region, the violence in the western part of the country has continued unabated. Reuters reports this morning that an aid worker for the NGO ACT-Caritas was killed near the DP camps in Zalingei, bringing the total number of deaths in the area to five.
“This killing follows a spate of attacks in the camps around Zalingei,” the charity said in a statement on 19 June. “Since the beginning of June, five camp residents have been shot and killed, huts have been set on fire, people have been beaten, and women assaulted almost daily. Hijackings of vehicles belonging to the UN and other international organisations also continue.”
Adam Adam, a guard and pump operator at a water point in Khamsa Degaig camp for internally displaced persons in Zalingei, was shot on 17 June. He was one of the local leaders in the camp.
“The incident was witnessed by three women on their way to the water point,” ACT-Caritas noted. “People in the camp tried to react, but the attackers fired shots into the crowd, dispersing them and allowing the gunmen to escape.”
According to the NGO, security in and around Zalingei, where about 100,000 people are camped, has continued to deteriorate over the past year yet people keep arriving every day.
This recent spate of violence against NGOs and displacement camps follows closely behind an announcement that Oxfam would be ceasing its operations in the Gereida region.